10 min Qigong against STRESS and OVERWORK

You have so much to do? There just isn’t an end in sight? The list just goes on and on.

We all know this feeling.

The feeling when everything seems to tumble-down over our heads, one just doesn’t know where to take all the time from to get everything done, but usually we end up overworking ourselves, which leads to a reduced productivity and stress.

In the end we get less down, then we would if we would give our mind some time to relax and take a break from thinking.

This is where Qigong comes into play.

Originally a Meditation System of Chinese Martial Artists, it is thought to relax the mind and body and to reestablish a smooth Chi-flow.

When the Chi stagnates we tend to be unproductive, get aches in certain areas, are moody, stressed, unhappy, tense. In short we are not able to handle all the work we got well.

But for those able to control their body and mind, problems become little, work goes a lot smoother and stress is much easier to handle.

What is Chi? Imagine it as a flow of Energy throughout your body, which can be a source of great strength once you are able to control it ( some don’t freeze, others break the most incredible things over their body ).

But this won’t go that far.

I picked these two exercises for you to do. Each can be done for 5 minutes so 10 minutes in total. Obviously the longer you have the better, but 10 minutes already can make the hell of a difference and get you back on track.

Everybody has time for 10 minutes and they will help to stretch out those sore muscles from sitting all day long, relax your mind, give you a bit of movement and hopefully improve your concentration so that you can go back to your work with a fresh mind.

(I am currently making a Video with the exercises, just give me a day to finish it 😉 )

All of these can be done in any room, you just need enough space to stand, but if you can it would be great if you can stand by a window or somewhere outside in nature, like a park or your garden. The Energy Flow is much nicer and more intensive when training outside and having a more direct connection to the world.

Playing with the Chi Ball –This one is fairly simple, it’s the one I first felt a strange energy flowing through my hands, like two magnets I wasn’t able to get my hands close together, there was a barrier, like a ball between your hands, hence the name. Stand shoulderwide apart, knees slightly bent, imagine your bottom being pulled down to earth, your feet are solidly rooted inside of the earth, your back is straight, the shoulders relaxed, your head is being pulled towards the heaven by an invisible string at the top of your head. The arms are bent and you are holding a ball between your hands. Now when you breathe in open your ribcage and feel how the ball gets bigger, breath out and try to lead the breath into your belly, the dantian, your energy center. Feel how your hands get together and the energy in between them gets compressed, your hands will pull towards each other until a certain point is reached. Don’t force it. Stay relaxed and just let it flow, eventually it will do so from alone. This is good if you want to relax your mind. If you have problems focusing just say breath in, breath out and just focus on the breath.

Stretching to Heaven and Kissing the Ground– This one actually is taken out of an originally 8 movement series, but it will take far over 30 minutes to do the whole series, which is why I picked my 2 favorite once, which I use after a long day of sitting, because it loosens my back muscles in all the right places^^ Take the same stance as above but place your hands over your stomach, guys left hand under right, girls right hand under left. Your dantian is supposed to be 3 fingers under your belly button, this is where you want to place your hand. Leave it there for a couple of breaths. Now when you breathe in lift your hands in the center, palms facing upwards until at the hight of your breast, when you breathe out turn the hands around and move them back downwards, like you are pressing something done, but very relaxed. Do this 3 times, then breathe in, lift hands and at the hight of your shoulders turn them upwards and reach up towards the heaven. Stretch the arms as high as possible, palms still facing upwards but keep feet solidly on the ground for a couple of breaths. Now with the next inhale lift yourself up on your toes and try to keep the balance for several more breaths. If you are feeling a slight tingling in your fingertips you are doing it right. Now let your palms sink down at your sides, keeping the tension all the way down when you breathe out. Do it slowly. Get your hands back to your stomach. The next part is not really kissing the ground. Do the 3 breaths again, now at the 4th inhale instead of going up, press your hands done towards the ground. Keep your back straight and try to grasp your ankles or shins at least. Now when you breathe in you lift your head and look up opening your ribcage, when you breath out you relax, I like to slightly roll my back in, like in Yoga, because it gives my back a nice stretch. Come back up and keep on breathing with the hands on your belly. Just focus on the breath. In, out, in, out, in, out.

So who am I to actually give you these tips?

Well I am training Shaolin Kung Fu in Maling Kungfu Academy, a school teaching foreigners 6 hours daily about these amazing martial art. In our curriculum we also do Qigong and my teacher really seems to love it, so we are doing 10 minutes daily before classes. It really helps me and feels great, so I figured I share these amazing exercises with you =)

Enjoy doing it and if you have any questions about the exercises or the training in a Kungfu School feel free to ask me.